Behind the Seams (24 page)

“Come in, come in,” CeeCee said, holding back the two yipping Yorkies as Dinah and I slipped in the door. Once we were inside and the Yorkies released, CeeCee looked at my empty hands. “I thought you were at Caitlin’s,” she said. “You didn’t bring anything with you? I’m dying to try the new items. I heard the popovers are heavenly and no sugar added,” she said. CeeCee was suddenly trying to curb her sweet tooth now that
Making Amends
was close to going back into production.

“I thought you were so anxious to hear what I found out. You should have seen the line.” Dinah nodded in agreement. CeeCee let out a disappointed sigh as we stood in the entrance hall.

“I’d offer you coffee, but Rosa is off today. You know me, I’d burn water.” She gestured toward the living room. “We might as well go in there.”

“I could make the coffee,” I offered and CeeCee immediately brightened.

“And,” she said expectantly. I looked at her blankly and she rolled her eyes. “Dear, nobody has just coffee. There has to be something that goes along with it.”

Dinah and I were hungry, too, since we ’d now missed breakfast and Caitlin’s, so after seeing that Rosa kept the place stocked with the basics, I offered to make a baked pancake, which was really close to a giant popover.

“How wonderful. We can talk as you cook. Let me get Nell.” We went into the kitchen, and she called Nell on the intercom. I started on the pancake while we waited for CeeCee’s niece. When she came in, I was struck by the change in her. She looked exhausted and it was the kind sleep wouldn’t help.

She greeted us and then looked at me with tense eyes. “Aunt CeeCee told me you said the cops are just pretending they know who dropped off the box of Nature’s Sweetie at the station. I’m guessing that’s why Detective Gilmore called and wants to talk to me again. She’s going to try to pin it on me?”

CeeCee put her arm around her niece’s shoulder but spoke to me. “I had to tell her. I thought it was better that she be forewarned.” CeeCee’s tone brightened. “But Molly has some bombshell information that will probably fix everything.

I wasn’t sure if it would fix anything, but it would certainly shake things up. Dinah put on the coffee while I turned on the oven to preheat and cut some butter into a heavy cake pan. I began to beat the eggs with a whisk.

“Well,” Nell said before leaning against the counter in a depressed slouch.

“You remember that Robyn said her parents were dead and how she resented your so-called connections?” I said and Nell nodded.

“How about this—her parents aren’t dead. And you’ll never guess who they are.”

All eyes were on me. Even though Dinah knew what I was going to say, she’d still gotten caught up in the suspense. “Her parents are Becca Ivins and Derek Trousedale.”

Nell looked shocked. “You mean the whole orphan thing was a scam.” There was more life in Nell’s face than I’d seen in a while as the information sank in. “That’s too weird. You know she was working on the show that featured them? The title was ‘Enduring Hollywood Couples’ or something.” Nell shook her head with disbelief. “And she was on me for having help getting the job.”

“Well, the part about Robyn doing it on her own is true. Becca and Derek weren’t really interested in being parents. They were totally involved with their careers and with each other. Robyn was brought up by the nanny until she went to boarding school. She wanted nothing from her parents, not even their name. She’s been on her own, making her own way, since she got out of college. She even worked as a nanny herself. She worked for someone who works on the
Barbara Olive Overton
show. That was her in.”

Nell was stunned. While I finished putting together the rest of the ingredients, she went and got her laptop. I put the pan in the oven to melt the butter and she powered up the computer. A few minutes later, I pulled out the pans and poured in the batter. I returned them to the oven and set the timer.

Nell started to search online. She found a Web site for the couple and clicked through everything, but there was no mention of any children. It did, however, speak glowingly of their charity work, describing them as being Hollywood’s sweethearts even after all these years, who selflessly used their celebrity status to help those less fortunate. Nell went through a bunch of other sites and finally found something that mentioned the couple had chosen to protect their family by refusing to talk about it.

“No doubt some publicist thought of that,” I said. My late husband, Charlie, had been in public relations, and he’d talked about how to put a spin on things so that a negative became a positive. Nell kept looking and finally found an old picture.

“Look,” she said, holding it where we could all see. There was a photo of Becca and Derek with a little girl in a sundress. The caption said, “Star couple at the beach with children.” “It says
children
,” Nell said, studying the picture. A little boy was crawling on the sand toward the water. “Robyn must have a brother.”

“If he didn’t drown,” Dinah said. “Even in the photo, you can see they’re not involved with the kids.” I studied the body language and realized Dinah was right. Becca was holding Robyn’s arms, but it was stiff and posed rather than loving. The actress seemed to have a much stronger connection with the camera than her daughter.

CeeCee nodded at the screen as if the picture confirmed some thought of her own. “Now maybe you understand why I didn’t have children. At least I was honest enough to acknowledge that my career came before anything and that I might be a little self-absorbed.”

Nell went and hugged her. “I love you anyway, Aunt CeeCee.”

CeeCee appeared shocked. “Oh, then you agree that I’m self-absorbed. I thought one of you would at least try to argue with that comment. Think about all my work for Hearts and Barks. I help out at the women and children’s shelter on holidays.” Her gaze moved over us and she seemed genuinely concerned. “And there’s the crochet group. If I was so self-absorbed, I’d just turn it over to Adele and say the heck with it.”

“You’re right. You do spend lots of time thinking of others,” I said. CeeCee still looked a little fragile. I nodded to Dinah and we all stepped in for a group hug.

“What would I do without my friends and niece,” CeeCee said, regaining her good humor. She sniffed the air. “I might not know how to cook, but I know how things are supposed to smell, and that pancake smells done.”

I popped it out of the oven and the fragrance was even more intense and more delicious. Nell got plates and we all sat down at the kitchen table and divided it up.

“Do you know them?” Nell asked after downing her last piece.

CeeCee laughed. “People think all celebrities know each other. The real truth is, Becca and Derek are on a different level than I am and have always been. They’re stars and I’m an actor.”

“You’re a star. What about the
CeeCee Collins Show
?” Nell protested. “And
Caught By a Kiss
? There’s even Oscar buzz. What have those two done?”

“They’ve both won Oscars, honey. But what they don’t have and I’m grateful for, is a niece like you who wants to stick up for me.”

I interrupted the mutual admiration society and got back to the real issue at hand.

I told Nell that Pierce Sheraton has mentioned that Robyn had promised him some kind of scoop. I’d also heard Talia mention something about some plan Robyn had for a surprise on the show. Nell’s eyes got big. “What if it had to do with her parents?”

“What if she was going to ruin the tribute to them by revealing what they were really like as parents?” CeeCee said. “Like in the middle of the show come forward and confront them.”

“And what if they found out?” Dinah added.

CeeCee nodded. “Something like that would tarnish their image forever. Knock them off their pedestals.”

We all looked at each other, and I know we were thinking the same thing. How far would they go to protect their image? Would they murder their own child? Finally CeeCee spoke.

“I’ve heard of wanting to kill to get a part. . . .”

I GOT TO THE BOOKSTORE AROUND NOON AND went right to the yarn department. No surprise, Elise and Rhoda were hanging out at the table. Elise seemed stuck on turning out black cell phone covers with red decorations. Though Rhoda had talked her into letting go of the vampire connection and she’d started adding things like red heart-shaped buttons. I began putting out some new yarn we’d just gotten in, which was dangerous. It was all I could do not to set some aside for myself. Barry’s shelves would be overflowing before they were even finished.

As soon as I had time for a break, I went into the café. CeeCee had pulled me aside before Dinah and I had left and asked me to talk to Mason. Even if Nell didn’t want a lawyer, maybe he could offer some advice.

As soon as I sat down at a table by the window, I tried calling him at his office. I was sure it would work out better than when I’d reached him home and not alone.

“What’s up, Sunsh—Molly?” he said. Hmm, so my nickname was dead. No doubt this other woman was his sunshine now. He was polite but distant as I told him about the sweetener drop off and CeeCee’s concern.

“Just tell her to say nothing,” he said. Then I brought up who Robyn’s parents were. I thought for a moment that he was interested.

“I had no idea Becca and Derek had any kids,” he said, then his voice flattened and he asked if there was anything else. I thought there probably was, but I was so unnerved by how he was acting, I couldn’t remember, and we hung up.

Bob dropped off a red-eye just in time. I needed something to perk me up because the call had totally bummed me out. I could deal with Mason meeting someone but not losing him as a friend. Dinah had said that Mason had probably faced I was more or less engaged to Barry and he decided to move on.

“I’ll just have to get used to it,” I said to myself, feeling my lip tremble. I swallowed back my tears and told myself I had to be a big girl. I’d taken to sticking a hook and wad of yarn in my pocket for times like this. I took it out and started working on another cell sock. Bob had his computer on the counter and, after delivering my drink, went back to hammering away, no doubt on his screenplay. I glanced around at the tables and nobody was talking—everybody seemed to be hovering over a computer or reading a book. I hadn’t even noticed D. J. before.

The quiet ended abruptly when the door whooshed open and Pierce Sheraton came in.
Came in
sounds a little tame. He rushed in and surveyed the area and focused in on Bob.

“Hey, there,” he said. “Did you find a little black notebook?”

Bob must have been lost in tales of the werewolf planet. He glanced up at the sound, but it took a moment before he realized who was there. Bob’s eyes lit up and he straightened.

“Sorry, I was just taking a moment to work on my script.” There was heavy emphasis on the word
script
, and Bob waited expectantly for Pierce to pick up on it, but there was no response. While Bob checked behind the counter and handed over the lost notebook, he kept talking about his screenplay. He was doing a good job of pitching it by likening it to other hit movies. He said it was like
Star Wars
with fur, and I noticed a flicker of interest from Pierce. Bob upped the ante by offering Pierce a coffee drink. The entertainment reporter could be a good connection for Bob, and I was curious to see how it was going to play out, but I got interrupted.

Just then Rayaad come up to me and jostled my arm. “Here she is,” our cashier said. I was surprised to see Annie the nanny was with her. Rayaad went back to her station.

“I’m sorry to disturb you while you’re working, but I didn’t know any other way to contact you,” Annie said. She explained she was on an errand for her employer and only had a few minutes but accepted my invitation to sit. She picked up the cell sock I was working on and admired it.

“I don’t know if you know, but Robyn has a brother,” she began. “Miles is nothing like her. He took all the rejection from his parents badly and was a cliché of a Hollywood kid with too much money and too much time.” She shook her head with dismay. “He struggled with a drug problem for years.” Her face brightened. “But he’s doing okay now. He used to be a resident at the halfway house, but now he’s a counselor.” She digressed and said she didn’t normally stay this connected with her charges, but seeing how their parents had shut them out had left her with a feeling of responsibility for them. She wanted me to know that Robyn had a soft spot for her brother and had done what she could to help him. I was still processing the information she’d given me when she asked me for a favor.

“I go to the halfway house once a month to teach a crochet class. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you about the tranquilizing benefits of it. It’s good for them to keep their hands busy, too. I’m sure this impatient crochet would appeal to them. The idea they could make something fast might encourage more of the residents to join us, and maybe they could even use the items for a fund-raiser.” She paused and smiled. “I know this is all last minute, but the class is in a few days, and I was wondering if you would be willing to come along and show them how to make one of these.” She held up my cell sock.

My brain was clicking. Robyn’s brother was another piece of the puzzle and talking to him seemed like an excellent idea. And I didn’t mind spreading the word of crochet. I told her the impatient crochet wasn’t really my idea, but I’d be happy to go with her and help show the group how to do it. I could bring patterns for some small items and everything. Annie seemed pleased and we set a time to go there together.

I mentioned the boy doll I’d rescued from the trash. “Did that belong to Miles?” Annie seemed surprised.

“I didn’t know Robyn kept it. Yes, I made them each a doll when I was taking care of them. I do it for all the kids in my charge.”